How to protect your business from security compromises

Powerful security in the digital age

Global cybercrime is growing at an alarming rate, costing companies trillions of dollars each year. Beyond the damage and destruction of data, businesses are also falling prey to theft of finances, intellectual property, personal and financial data, fraud and even embezzlement. All of this can lead to productivity losses and reputational harm, extending costs even further.

The first step is to create clear security policies that manage your business’s critical assets and documents. These policies can outline your organizational approach to access control, privacy, system and network management, among others.

But are they solely enough to protect your critical business data?

Data theft and how your business is at risk

Every business, regardless of size or industry, is required to comply with data protection and privacy laws. Beyond that, there is a raft of legal requirements that organizations must meet depending on their industry and location.

Digital communication is a central business function and has never been so relevant in the global 21st century. However, organizations also need to ensure this communication doesn’t compromise digital assets by unknowingly letting confidential information fall into the wrong hands.

Data security breaches can occur for multiple reasons, including:

• Loss or theft of data storage devices, such as devices containing hard drives.
• Inappropriate access controls.
• Equipment failure.
• Human error.
• Hacking attacks.
• Deception via an internal party.

Email, faxing, scanning and file storage can all leave you open to internal compromise or cyber attacks. At the same time, IT departments are stretched – their role has expanded from implementation, maintenance and support to also include intense security. This focus is often on laptops and other mobile devices, but in many organizations, there is a gap with fixed devices.

Multifunction devices enable printing, copying, scanning and data transmission. They’re commonly known as input and output devices, with data being input into the system by one method and output by another. But does your multifunction manage that transmission securely?

Securing your multifunction device

There are a number of ways to secure the data assets captured when using a multifunction device. For hard drive security management, Canon’s imageRUNNER ADVANCE offers an image-override security option. This enables administrators to create a schedule – whether it be hourly, daily, weekly or after-hours – whereby residual data is removed from the hard drive.

If you’re a Canon Enterprise client, this task is managed on your behalf as part of the service package. Anyone trying to infiltrate the system will be blocked from accessing the secured information.

For user management, access and functionality can be set at an individual (user) or role-based (organizational) level. Access integration with L-DAP (Lightweight Directory Access Protocol) offers further security, with only company users within the network able to access the device. It also limits accessibility and usability across multiple devices in line with company policy.

Protecting confidential business information doesn’t start or end with the storage of your digital assets. It’s critical to look at the communication channels that connect with those assets, such as multifunction devices.